


We...redress the balance.

by Mutsz



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Leverage Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on a Tumblr Post, Gen, Low chances of me actually writing this fic, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Not a fic, References to Leverage, more like a chaotic collection of ideas, not even an outline, or actually, or an attempt at
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27072457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mutsz/pseuds/Mutsz
Summary: A rough collection of ideas for a Leverage!AU of Avatar: the Last Airbender, based on a tumblr-post.(also, I edited out the horrible formatting. I was more sleep-deprived than usual and it's my first time posting on AO3, hopefully this mess is slightly easier to read now.)





	1. Thoughts about the Crew

**Author's Note:**

  * For [preciousbunnynoiz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/preciousbunnynoiz/gifts).



> Did I teach myself how to format with HTML _just_ so I could use footnotes in this mess? Yes, yes I did.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barely-edited notings of ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.
> 
> Somewhere in the last weeks of July this year, [preciousbunnynoiz](/users/preciousbunnynoiz/) made a post on their tumblr about [ Team Avatar Leverage AU](https://ineffectualdemon.tumblr.com/post/624395259514896384/). And my brain went '!!!!!'
> 
> Since then, I have written down a small collection of ideas and tentative headcanons for this AU. And I'm too chicken to start writing things because on top of no actual writing skills except in formal emails, my lacking knowledge of actual world experiences ~~or at least how capitalism works~~ makes my insecurity thrive in second-guessing's.
> 
> However, seeing as it's been several months now ~~partially due to my college starting again~~ , I might as well just- post the whole mess.
> 
> If you are capable of deciphering my ramblings and such: congrats, you can make more sense of this than I do aided by a good night's sleep and coffee.
> 
> The title is an attempt at rewriting that iconic line in the intro of Leverage, Avatar-style.
> 
> _On to the ramblings!_

**Before we begin, let me make this clear**

I don’t think the characters/worlds can be immediately transferred/translated to either show so really, let’s go for which role/job would fit each character best in a team, why, and how it would fit with the world of unfair corporations (most of them fire nation but of course also several in earth kingdoms and water tribes).

Also: these are all the ideas and ‘!’-moments that I had in the past few _months_ since reading that post of them, so it is rambly, messy, chaotic, full of question marks and second-guessing because I have approximately zero experience, direct or indirect, with the worlds of business, corporations, organisations, corruption, crime, vigilantism, drama, humor and writing. So. There’s that. If you needed a warning, this is it.

Moving on.

* * *

**“Roles”**

_Mastermind_ : **Aang** finds the people and knows the cons (I mean come on, all those ridiculous names? He’d totally learn it and try to convince people he came up with the names), but Sokka makes the better working plans (Zuko also has good strategic insights, though he forgets working out more than a few steps ahead)

_Hitter_ : **Toph** as complete-brute-strength (come on, greatest earthbender in the world) and **Suki** as the incredibly skilled powerful master of all things fight related (badass non-bender, nobody expects that) (also Zuko has sheer ninja-skills and ridiculous determination). Toph would also work great as the bait, which is...canon.

_Hacker_ : of course it’s **Sokka** , our master strategist, our Plan Guy (with the occasional insight from Zuko who has more cultural background or personal experience with Fire Nation etiquette ~~though not with the normal civilians~~ and Earth Kingdom and ninja-ing, and maybe Iroh as our wise but also silly old man of many an experience with life spirituality and work fuckery)

_Thief_ : **Zuko** , mostly as the “non-bending” Blue Spirit, though he kind of retired for Uncle Iroh and tries to keep his identity hidden because _wow_ he is pretty fucking recognizable ~~it must be the hair~~ , and also **Toph** because she is small and can disappear into the earth, and I feel like she has enough sensitivity in her hands and ears for lockpicking and safe-cracking, but she only joins the job if the Blue Spirit is on board because, you know, sight is kind of important in contraptions that are not stone or metal (“He can be my eyes and I can be his voice! Or, his interpreter, since I’m guessing most of you don’t know [insert morse code or other completely nonverbal non-sight-dependent communication that can perhaps also work digitally]”)

_Grifter_ : **Katara** , with an intro that “she has a bleeding heart and is lawful good, no way would she join this con-” Katara: “-cons a sexist bigot out of wallet and dignity and by the way completely destroys him-” Team: “...okay she gotta join and never leave.”

I think she grifts more like Tara than Sophie: badass names and roles (a cop, the contact for a crime boss, uptight lawyer), using her attractiveness (like Tara: “I’m Trish and I’m lonely”)… For certain cons, Toph takes advantage of her vulnerable looks, kinda like Parker’s repeated drunk impressions; underestimation is the best advantage, and she also has that noble upbringing so she knows exactly how to rub elbows with way too posh people like that, like at the auction house in England in Leverage, and those people at Castleman’s gathering in Leverage S1E1! They’re giving each other pointers on their grifts, because their styles are as distinctly different as Sophie’s and Tara’s are (I loved Girls Night Out, definitely want to do a remake of that including Suki and mayhap more girls).

(Zuko, while very bad at lying1, is great at acting, which surprisingly includes improv-acting: give him a role and he knows exactly how to do it. He can get the ‘prepare for a mountain of suck’ intro when he’s revealed as the Blue Spirit, because I might try to rewrite the script to fit Katara but _come on_ . So anyway, yes, the occasional grift for him too: the tough scarred bodyguard, the quailing burn-victim, the slick evil businessman (you can’t tell me he can’t remember the colleagues of dad-dearest - also perfect opportunity for existential crisis because he might be too good at the role what if he’s like his _father_ -), the drama-teacher who is the type to always wear a half-mask/has a Nikiforov-style curtain of hair in front of his eye because “Drama, children! Listen well: one must live, eat, feel and _breathe_ as the role that they want to portray! You cannot give up halfway, you have to go _for the full experience_!”2)

* * *

**About Aang:**

  * Aang is a young adult3, was a teenage prodigy and got a job as soon as he was legal4, but just a few years of successful work in a FN insurance company (Sozin’s company, now Ozai’s? Maybe got the interview/idea through Roku? Since he was a good friend of his mentor, but died just before Aang got in for his interview, got a stellar reference5 from him right after graduation)
  * Maybe the reason he quit was that one or several buildings with Air Nomads got burned down, with many injuries and casualties to the inhabitants, maybe the same where he grew up under Gyatso’s mentoring (orphanage? Care house? Social living? I don’t know how these things work and what kind of impacts such upbringing have on people). It/they were insured by the FN insurance company, but they won’t pay out any claim. Aang had filed his own claim for his mentor but is denied, and finds out it’s because the whole system is corrupt.
  * Aang doesn’t have problems with alcoholism, he runs away, trying not to be caught up by his past and guilt (like, holy shit that feels horrible. Also I don’t want Gyatso to die but he is gravely injured, I feel like… Or he does die and Aang only has Guru Pathik)
  * Still works with gizmo’s from his job and what Gyatso taught him: they’re horribly outdated, as is most of his slang because he hung out with Gyatso, Roku, Guru Pathik and his pets… Omg Bumi will be an online friend/colleague who never changed his icon from his younger picture but the day he and Aang “reunite”, he barely recognizes Bumi but he does recognize his mad genius in cons
  * As an employee, Aang has had encounters with pretty much all members of the crew, but had certain understandings/sympathies with most of them, sort of. He knows that: 
    * Sokka is a goofball with the smartest plans ever, and Katara (his sister) is all in for true equality and justice, _by any means necessary_
    * Toph, while still being a full Beifong, occasionally snuck out to con/steal a thing and fight her way out, but only to prove that she could and to kick the bastard’s ass (she gave the thing back to the true owners/donated it to charity)
    * Suki mostly keeps to neutral territory/”is the tool” that the crime-bosses use to get the job done; Aang can take out the bad guy that gave the orders from up high, and he knows her ~~mostly-legal~~ self-defence classes are phenomenal
    * The Blue Spirit got sniped on during a chase that had both of them at a disadvantage, and yes, he recognized the scar, but swore afterwards he’d keep that secret since Zuko was ~~inadvisedly~~ doing Robin Hood work on fairly small scale (but being a total menace to both EK and FN bastards), only sometimes being a bit of an arsonist



_**But will they kill a bitch?** _

Let’s be real, Aang is not like Nate at all and it would go against his most important principles to be as ruthless and revenge-minded as Nate is.

  * Aang’s reasoning for “switching sides” is that he genuinely wants to sleep, and after that traumatic event involving his community (and Gyatso), I’d believe him capable of being pushed to what the internet tells me is unlawful good?
  * Also, Aang was ready to throw down with those sandbenders in AtlA, so we know he can become overwhelmed if his loved ones are directly involved (threatened or endangered)
  * On the note of Aang not being like Nate: Aang doesn’t want to be the mastermind, has _never_ wanted to be the mastermind, or leader, or “one of the bad guys/criminals/thieves.” So that’s his story-arc: he’s so young with a way too bright mind that’s being pressured into _taking responsibility as a working man_ _since you_ can _, with all your talent_. Let the kid be a kid, teen, young adult, let him fool around and be soft and happy!6
    * Basically, he has a few quarter-life crises instead of a midlife crisis, is a bit fucked up from the harm to his community (and in the Library through Ba Sing Se arc about Appa, obvi) instead of the unjust death of his son, and is dealing more with the transition from black-and-white thinking of "goodness" to grey areas of justice and what's right instead of thinking that he's not a thief/he's totally a functioning alcoholic/the riskiest, craziest cons still worked so we can risk more, we are unstoppable.
    * _However._ He _is_ at that age where you start thinking of all the injustice of the world, becoming an activist, that kinda stuff. I have a sense that, hey, he just wants balance in the world, where things are fair and good for everyone. But being a pacifist is...maybe clashing with that? I don’t know?



**About Katara**

  * **Katara**. Just Katara. Omg yes. She has some growing to do still, of course, even though I do plan to age up everyone a bit.
  * I think she has her suspicions about the possibility of waterbending being taken too far, but honestly she can’t imagine any waterbender taking the sacred art that far. Of course, then she meets Hama. And needs to take herself on a short life-changing fieldtrip. I don’t want her going away like Sophie did, but she does need to take a short break from cons because she just. can’t keep her cool with this new aspect of that very important part of her identity.
  * Honestly I want her coming back stronger and more determined. _Yes_ bloodbending is a thing now, but considering how she truly wants to help people, she will figure out a way how this can _help_.
    * It’s not just useful against people who “go too far”, as in combat, but come on. Medical implications of sensing the blood running through people’s veins. And I know at least 3 different fics (which I will look up again because holy shit were they good) where it’s addressed and also heightened awareness of all water in the vicinity and if that ain’t just -chef’s kiss-



_**But will they kill a bitch?** _

Katara can and definitely will be ruthless, near-murderously so if need be, though the murder-y parts usually only come when it’s hitting too close to home. Like obviously I’m talking about the Southern Raiders episode here, Yon Rha was this close to being perforated by murder-hail. She was just. Better.

**About Sokka**

  * Sokka is our underappreciated Hacker, Plans Guy, Inventor, Critical Thinker, Totally a Member of that One Good Secret Society Even Though He Doesn’t Believe Himself To Be, Team Older Brother With Dad Energy, Feminist, Shopaholic, Adopted By “The Spirits” (which means ridiculously lucky at ridiculous times yes I am using that delicious headcanon, I will credit as soon as I can find the posts/authors/fics back in my bookmarks...)



_**But will they kill a bitch?** _

Sokka would do what it takes concerning bad guys, since he does feel responsible as one of the older members of the team fulfilling the general “big brother/dad/man of the house” role he has. I have come to absolutely adore Sokka but right now his multitude of perfectly executed tropes and lines in canon just overwhelm me a bit so I apologize for the shortness here, but I haven't rewatched yet and I want to do our amazing goofball genius justice even in shortnotes...

**About Toph**

  * Toph is just _Toph_. She kicks ass, gleefully.
  * Grievous Bodily Harm in the wake of her path is not uncommon, but she doesn’t go so far as to fatally harm people if she can help it. Especially after she joins the Gaang: she goes out of her way to keep it to minimal damage, both collateral and bodily.
  * Still a Bei Fong, which is of course part of her insecurities because hello overprotective parents who are also caring so much about “their image”. They are probably old-fashioned, or some other rich form of bigotry because I cannot convince myself that the Bei Fong Family wouldn’t have all the money, contacts and power to get all the amenities for a blind person to live life “as normally as possible”. They probably truly refuse to accept that blindness isn’t a bad thing, and that being blind doesn’t mean she can’t be successful, or powerful, or- fucking kick ass at whatever she wants to kick ass at, business, martial arts, _crime_ , she will .
  * Yes, the Earth Rumble IV is still there, but she has some more experience in being a stage-fighter and makes use of more elaborate outfits with blindfolds to not make it about her being _actually_ blind but a stage-act about _beating all these guys blindfolded that’s how good I am_.
  * There’s some gossip about the Blue Spirit in (the modern equivalent of) the servants’ quarters (maybe like the caterer’s idle talk? or the security’s), which is of course her inspiration: seeing as she uses outfits and blindfolds for the Earth Rumble anyway, why not _also_ don a mask and fight crime.
    * “If the Blue Spirit can do it, so can I.”
    * Crime = mostly whatever shady deals are happening without her parents knowing, maybe? If in AtlA they were very successful merchants, I’m sure that here they have a big, generations-old company with some branches under them, if it’s big enough, there’s bound to be some corruption somewhere. For Toph’s sake, it’s not directly linked to her parents.
    * Also, Blue Spirit gets petty crimes and mob underlings, collects evidence out of high security locations. The _Blind Bandit_ (‘s vigilante name which isn’t the same, probably? What if I can get the badgermole in it, somehow?) knows how business works unlike me and gets her vigilante work done in crimes more directly associated with _that_. She has no idea how to collect evidence because _how the hell would she be able to pick the incriminating written stuff from the other stuff?!_ But I’m sure she can plant bugs until the walls truly have ears - on the other side of those newly embedded spy-microphones she put there. If there’s something metal- or rock-like in the room, she can hide her gear in it shallowly enough for the sound to be picked up and recorded for evidence.



_**But will they kill a bitch?** _

Toph _can_ kill a bitch, but she chooses not to (let’s say the Earth Rumble Himbo’s are respectful since she is OP but also started _so young_ so of course she had had some thoughts about hitting them too hard in the rumble and coming close to actual damage- maybe she did, and then it hit home that hey, fighting is okay but it also can do _damage_ ). She will sense exactly how far she can take it with her bending, and only hit as hard as needed (which _yes_ sometimes requires GBH but she does consider her other options!)

**About Zuko**

  * Zuko is criminally speaking more known as The Blue Spirit, vigilante crime fighter, and “normally” known as the failure son of the corrupt boss of the now completely corrupt FN insurance company7
  * His scar is “officially” known as the result of “an unfortunate accident” nobody believes but it keeps being insisted and oh look, another empty desk at work, and nobody heard from them for weeks and their friends and family are worried, fuck, but really, a lot of people have heard the rumors (which probably started in the break room of the lower levels when Ozai’s older brother comes for “a short tour of the company, to see all the new things,” and desperately needed tea to go in the elevator or something, and later some of the tiny travelling pop-up tea shops of his officially retired-from-the-family-company uncle, and with the underlings of the FN company where Zuko always visited as a kid and thanked politely as a teenager and awkwardly asked and talked about hobbies as an intern) that Ozai is just as much of a heartless shark8 at home as he is in the company. 
    * Also uncle Iroh retired from working in the company (and being the one set to inherit company) after a case against EK - Ba Sing Se which is totally a coverup to a crime thing of some sort (Dai Li: extortion, exploitation, disappearances, probably also erasing of events, histories, crimes, rights, all that good stuff of censorship and trafficking) and they got to his son Lu Ten9, and he did soul-searching (and probably therapy, which is a no-no in the family, because I don’t have enough reasons yet to hate Sozin, Azulon and Ozai apparently) and if I keep him alive bonding and learning with Lu Ten, comes back to “follow his dreams and passions of opening a tea shop, and traveling”
    * If Lu Ten is still alive- oh! Maybe hidden, like in a witness protection program which I only know of through American crime series? Because maybe he got damning evidence against his own family company, or against some of the Dai Li? If he’s alive, I don’t want people to know it! And if Iroh knows, he knows he can’t breathe even a whisper of his survival (which definitely left permanent physical damage on the poor boy, I don’t know what yet but I’m sure the EK crime thing wanted to _leave a message_ or other rip-my-heart-out-why-don’t-you-thing that Lu Ten barely got out of). So yeah, Zuko doesn’t know and Iroh keeps mourning him because even if Lu Ten is alive, there’s no chance of contact or being sure that his son is alive and _safe_ yet.
  * **_What if!_** The core Gaang forms “before” Zuko joins (both as Blue-Spirit-Unwilling-Freelancer and as an actual unmissable member) and they became known for The Impossible Cases in Sozin’s Comet Insurance Company. Ozai set the condition that Zuko could only inherit the company if he caught the Gaang (not quite such a hopeless and impossible case as in AtlA, but still pretty harsh and an impossible case for veterans of the company, let alone someone around only still-fairly-amazing-but-not-prodigy-junior-member-levels)
  * ...if Zuko gets most Parker-parts, then...what about the Stork Job? I mean, at what age do I put all the events? If I vaguely keep to the timeline in AtlA: Agni Kai = young Zuko wants to prove he can keep up with interns, but speaks up during an evil business presentation [those employees count on us to keep them safe and financially secure, how can you treat them like this?], doesn’t just get grounded for it but “ _disciplined_ ”; banishment = conditions set that he can only be pointed back as heir of the company after father deems him properly trained, which means only after working his way back up from the very bottom (and also being held back from promoting at every point possible), eventually solving the mostly-impossible cases; treason = Zuko, after working so closely in unfair conditions, uses the Blue Spirit alias more and more to help those who need it instead of only for the cases? However, if I want to use elements from the Leverage-backgrounds: Zuko still got that scar at 13, maybe for the same reasons as above (and Ursa got _out_ after that shady business with Azulon and Iroh and Ozai, and yeah it was a loveless mostly business-related marriage), but instead he got “secretly” put in the system without hope for return until Iroh comes back from his soul-searching (or rebonding with Lu Ten) years after the Ba Sing Se incident, and that’s where he got/expanded on most of his skills (because I don’t know how yet but he has to have learned at least some of them while still living at home with Ozai and Azula, or the horrible closed-off extra harsh home schooling he got after Ursa couldn’t stop stop Ozai from hiring the worst private teachers)10



_**But will they kill a bitch?** _

_Zuko is a kind boy,_ I have definitely read fics about Zuko’s pre-awakened-Aang’s honor (like [Honor Among Thieves](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25344355/) by [lucy_blue](/users/lucy_blue/)) and meta on tumblr about his canon pre-eclipse honor because _this boy is soft and kind and honorable and good, and then the fucking Bitchlord- *enraged banshee screeches*_

**About No-Zai the Bitchlord**

Ozai is the End Boss™ in the style of Second David/Two Davids/the whole Moreau-arc, mostly because yeah, the first con against his company failed miserably, and the first con against him directly got fucked up too, and they keep seeing worse and worse things that the guy did or didn’t “do”, and he gets most delightfully conned at the end, getting thrown in a miserable old cell without his bending powers I will always want him to just die already, but I wouldn’t put Aang through such turmoil

...I have a feeling I’ll be actually copying the San Lorenzo episode quite a lot, there, since it does give me a good isolated cell in a relatively speaking tiny-ass country that doesn’t recognize extradition treaties. No New Ozai Society BS here.

**One thought (so far) about Azula**

_OMG WHAT IF AZULA SOMEHOW FULFILLS THE MAGGIE-PART IN THE SECOND DAVID/TWO DAVIDS ARC?!_ She never knew the full cruelty of her father (I want to keep her being the favored child, but I think Ozai will see her as a useful tool only after she shows how well she understands business and meetings and all that stuff I don’t understand, being a prodigy firebender is cool but it’s not what being the CEO is about. It gives her less time being pressured into “the perfect heir” and more possibilities to healthier bonding with Mom and Zuzu).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   1. Tentative example of bad at lying ~~because I have no idea what humor is and how to write a bad-at-lying-scene:~~  
>  “You were there when we needed saving!”  
>  “No I wasn’t”  
>  “My dear nephew I know you weren’t home the nights you told me you were turned in early because of a headache. I’ve seen you train for hours when you were delirious from fever.”  
>  “That was- I- the turtleducklings!”  
>  “...what”  
>  “The...turtleducklings were...so cute and…I cried myself a headache”Back
>   2. Is this how to theatre-nerd? I don’t know if this is how to theatre-nerd I barely even know how to people sometimes.Back
>   3. And then I had a 2am thought that hey, everybody started doing crimes in high school at the latest, seems kind of in line with both shows, but fuck I'm still breaking my head over how to work Zuko's FN imperialist 4th in line then suddenly crown prince youth into this Leverage AU and ow, my few remaining braincells hurt.Back
>   4. I've never worked under contract, how does one job?Back
>   5. Again, I have not done an actual, like, contracted job or job interview, ever.Back
>   6. Getting inspiration from internet and personal experience: lots of pressure on talented kids (which Aang, airbending master at probs less than twelve, definitely was) to keep performing perfectly at highly stressful levels, and contributing to society, seizing all the opportunities, "be a man" ~~huuurgh~~Back
>   7. People he’s directly worked with (and aren’t complete assholes or evil) know him as _The Only Still Functioning Good Person In That Family_ before the scar messed everything up, and after he is still _The Only Still Mostly Functioning Good Person In That Family_.Back
>   8. lol, I’m thinking of “the Mako” from Leverage, the ego is on par with Bitchlord’s “Phoenix Emperor” - omg he insists on being the Phoenix who will rush the company to a new age of prosperity.Back
>   9. I DO NOT WANT TO KILL HIM BUT WHAT IF I HAVE TO LEAVE HIM DEAD?!Back
>   10. Please tell me any of this could work. I know nothing of business, or home schooling, or crime. This is gonna bite me in the ass for this story omg. Maybe this is too much work if I don’t want to write an [Embers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3591783/)-length novel, since I’m not doing all the reading that [Vathara](/users/vathara/) most definitely did…Back
> 



	2. Quotes, parts (rewritten) and characters that I really want to use

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A separate chapter for the not-immediately-character-or-role-specific brainfarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you've tried reading this...mess...before, you may have noticed that I've changed the formatting.
> 
> I was clearly even more sleepdeprived than I already am on a daily basis, because _I_ couldn't even look back at that monstrosity.
> 
> (not that I think anyone will honestly read any of these ramblings and take it seriously, but hey, at least it's all cleared up for my own re-reading.)

These are just so iconic and fit so well I _had to._

(also yes, I maybe shouldn't have posted these if I had any intention of writing this fic, but ehhhhh...not likely)

* * *

**Partially rewritten quotes and parts that I'd love to read:**

“Let’s go steal his bending”

“How bad do you wanna get back at the company that left your people to die?”

“The worst things I ever did, I did for my father… And I’ll never lose that”

[double-crosser]: “I just need _one_ honest man to watch _them._ ”  
Aang: “I’m barely twenty five, how do you expect me to lead a team of criminals?”  
[double-crosser]: “You were a prodigy employee and got a job at the most prestigious insurance company as soon as you graduated, which was just after your puberty, I could think of no one better as the mastermind of this team.”

Aang: “All right, clear comms.”  
Sokka: “Oh heck no, this equipment is older than my dad, where did you get these, the corporate espionage archives, tagged ‘tech at the start of this century’?”  
Aang: “They were a gift from my mentor for my first job!”  
Sokka: “Which I'm guessing you got around the time that your voice broke and we all know your mentors are old enough to be great-grandfathers, I can do ya one better, buddy.”

Aang: “We’re gonna do a variation on the burn scam.”  
At which Toph gets SFX-scars around her eyes for an “blinding acid burn”  
(how does Zuko get out? Takes the mask off and joins the burn-scam? Toph tells them there’s a way out but it’s impossible to use, and Zuko just...fucking does it?)

6th Juror episode: Zuko stop being the insecure idiot you are, you _are_ loveable, you _can_ have friends, _we_ are your friends- wait, maybe some new _normal-people_ friends can convince you that you’re likeable not just for your usefulness! GO MAKE FRIENDS! [insert Song, Jet and Jin being in the jury]

Probably Ozai in the finale: “[Vittori-equivalent, _maybe Zuko?!_ ] would never go for that”  
Aang: “No, they wouldn’t... -looks from Ribera-equivalent to the order to take Ozai’s bending as is lawful by that one ancient law when that ancient technique was still known, and put him in jail-”  
[Ribera-equivalent (maybe Azula?)]: “...-signs order-”

* * *

**People I still want to work into the thing**

_(will add onto as I rewatch the series)_

  * Azula (of course, and I want to give her the possibility for redemption, or at least realizing Ozai is shit and her getting away from All That Crap)
  * Mai and Ty Lee (fuck yes knife-girl and circus-enthusiast)
  * Yue (omg yes, I don’t want her to die but maybe for the story-continuity?)
  * Wani’s Crew (I am definitely taking [Muffinlance's Wani-OC's](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24322483), hell yeah)
  * Jet & the Freedomfighters (OMG JET DOUBLE CROSSES THEM, THEY;RE NOT SAVING INNOCENTS WHILE SCREWING OVER FN, THEY’RE FUCKING SHIT UP FOR _EVERYONE AROUND)_ (Also, Jet comes back in canon so I can also bring him back! Maybe in the 6th Juror and- _holy crap_ Sokka can still be the lawyer if he unfucked the double-cross _digitally without showing his face!!!_ )
  * Jan Hie (not a name but that factory-polluted village, they’re gonna be clients)
  * Bumi (FUCK YEAH!) (old online genius and conman, I am being reminded of Archie?)
  * General Fong (how to turn him into a friend-turns-into-mark, tho?)
  * June (one of the people “they don’t trust”, maybe? Cause she is definitely Hitter, if not full on mercenary/hitman/assassin)
  * Haru and his parents (they're totally one of their first clients)
  * Lee, the kid from Zuko Alone (Zuko's solo job? maybe before being called back to freelance in the team)
  * Song (one of Zuko's "normal" friends!)
  * WANG FIRE AND HIS WIFE, SAPPHIRE FIRE!
  * _How could I forget Appa and Momo? Bosco? Hawky? How could I?_
  * Also Druk. Don’t care that he’s more of an after-AtlA-verse character, he’s a _goddamn dragon_.
  * On that note: Ran and Shaw, and the Sun Warriors need to be considered as a short con, I’m getting vibes for an equivalent of the Broken Wing Job where we get flashes from Zuko and Aang’s Life Changing Fieldtrip just-two-guys-needed-con while the rest/another part of the group do(es) their own con
  * The Ember Island Players, who run a news blog but get all the stories, characters and people involved wrong (I'm being reminded of Freddie Lounds' "crime blog" in Hannibal: it sensationalises everything but on the wrong notes)



I will not watch LoK. Absolutely not my vibe. I just do not like Korra. Don't @ me about this, please.

* * *

**Questions and things that still need considering**

  * What kind of world is this happening in? Is it the Avatar, pre-industrial, war-torn-or-maybe-not universe? Is it a Modern!AU, to better fit with the Leverage (and Hacker) parts? Is it something in between (steampunk-y)?
    * Probably Modern, easier to mash all the thing happening then
  * Is there elemental bending present? Probably. How does it work in this universe? How does it affect daily life & _business_ (which will be corrupt otherwise there’s nothing to steal for our good guys)?
    * I want to say yes, there’s could be so many little things incorporated, hell yeah
    * Ugh maybe I should watch _a bit_ of LoK, just to see how it works in that Industrial-period
  * Are the animal-hybrids from AtlA present? How the hell would a sky bison work in this ‘verse?
    * If the hybrids are used (and honestly I want to just for the turtleducks), then Bosco still needs to be a normal bear. Half the con of that part is just people who keep being flummoxed that “it just says... _bear_ …”
  * Is there a complete 5-man crew at the start? Are they assembling on the way?
    * It feels more true to the AtlA-story to assemble along the way, maybe have other characters do a pretty okay job at whatever’s required until the time? “We made do last time, but this con actually _needs_ [number higher than current crew] people to work: Katara can’t grift in two places at once/Sokka _needs_ to stay at the controls for this one/[other excuse why we need to find someone more already].” Also: such an opportunity to do that scene from the Beantown Bailout where Nate is adamant he’s not doing the con “but...the Turnabout needs 5 people…”
  * Does the storytelling start at the start of the team, or at some later point?
    * Depends on how much can be worked into in-dialogue references or short flashbacks (like the ones Eliot gets from his solo Retrieval Expert days, or Parker from her childhood) without disrupting the flow of the story :p




	3. An attempt at an overview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I...just like sorting things in lists and tables. But AO3 doesn't do tables.
> 
> So have the lists of "one summarizing line per episode for each show" (mostly to remind myself of the overarching developments and plot points).

**Avatar: the last Airbender**

**Book 1: Water**

  1. Intro situation: team up Aang, Appa, Katara, Sokka
  2. Zuko & Iroh as initial “bad guys” (but not really, we all know this)
  3. Southern Air Temple: we all miss Gyatso, but YAY MOMO! And Zhao is the real “bad guy” I hate him so much
  4. Kyoshi Island (SUKI MY QUEEN!)
  5. Omashu & Bumi (AND FLOPSY)
  6. The earthbender prison (Katara you naive child, adult me is horrified), lost necklace
  7. Hei Bai, and Iroh is captured and retrieved
  8. Temple of Fire Sages
  9. Pirates, feat. Dramaqueen Zuko (lol)
  10. _Jet you fucker_
  11. ...I have no memory of this one...
  12. The Storm was pivotal in Zuko’s redemption for the audience omg yes
  13. The Blue Spirit, of course
  14. the Fortuneteller didn’t do much for me, except establish our boi Sokka as a good science believing man I stan
  15. BATO!!! Also June!
  16. Jeong Jeong you cynical pessimist, can’t forgive you nearly crippled Aang for life with your “fire is only destruction”
  17. TEO!!! Also, Sokka the young inventor!
  18. Fuck you Pakku. You too, Zhao.
  19. Zuko, normal people can’t hold their breath for 10min in arctic waters, wtf. and _Koh is the original creep_
  20. No! NO! NOOOOOOOO! _Yue!!! ;A;_



**Book 2, Earth**

  1. General Fong & Azula
  2. The Cave was meh for me, but Song!!!
  3. intro Mai & Ty Lee love TomTom, and someone “who waits and listens”
  4. the Swamp (and Blue Spirit?)
  5. story of General Chin + Zuko leaves
  6. _The Blind Bandit <3_
  7. Zuko Alone (all the flashbacks + Lee)
  8. Chase: there are kinks in this team
  9. Bitter Work was...weird for me. But good overall? Such drama, Zuzu
  10. Wan Shi Tong Is A Miserly Hoarder
  11. the Desert ended up breaking my heart
  12. Hope is a good name, but...maybe not as a first name… Also, Jet’s back! And accidentally bonding with FN refugees! _Karma_
  13. Drill, Sokka our smart boi figured it all out, Bad Bitch Trio is back, and Jet starts his stalking and exposing plans
  14. _There is no war in Ba Sing Se_
  15. Tales of Ba Sing Se imnotcryingur
  16. _APPA!!!!!!!_ (with Suki and the Guru)
  17. Lake Laogai, _do I want to kill Jet?_
  18. get mildly fucked, Long Feng. And: Zuko’s dramatic morality-fever, Toph’s kidnapping, Sokka _not confirming the Kyoshi warriors’ identities_ , and Aang setting out for more spirituality-training
  19. Toph is Metal AF. Long Feng underestimates Azula’s Evil Boss Ass Bitch Powers. Aang can’t let go of love. Katara is in danger **.**
  20. Crossroads of Destiny **more like a cross over my heart so they kn _ow where to stab omg. Zuko baby noooo-_**



**Book 3, Fire**

  1. Aang is pretend-dead because Roku guilts him into it, Azula always lies, and coming home was maybe overhyped
  2. Oh look, propaganda. Zuko is Doing His Best In This Shitty Situation
  3. Painted Lady committing eco-terrorism
  4. Sokka gets the confidence and (some of the) appreciation he deserves, and Iroh plans to get swole
  5. The only way to make this forced vacation work is by trashing this party. And Sparky Sparky Boom Man makes an entrance
  6. Sozin didn’t like being denied, took it out on the world, boyfriend Roku failed to commit murder, kept trusting power-hungry hubby and thus doomed the world. Zuko is genetically speaking both Good and Evil, and Aang is the only neutral child.
  7. Toph scams gamblers, gets a wanted poster, Katara patches relationships with crime, and sweatbends (ew).
  8. _Yo what the fuck._ But I gotta say, bloodbending has so many medical possibilities, Katara please don’t cry!
  9. Aang is Anxious, and Zuko is doing a cute with Mai (but ends up feeling like a lie)
  10. The Invasion: All allies unite, Zuko makes preparations, Sokka’s ingenuity and leadership shows, _of course the Fire Nation Royalty knows about their one day of weakness_
  11. The Eclipse: **_YES ZUKO! :D_** Sokka gets triggered, Ozai reveals some family-drama. And attempts filicide. Again. can we just kill the guy? for me?
  12. Western Air Temple: Zuko Tries™, Toph triggers his PTSD, Combustion Man combusts, Katara is threatening
  13. Firebending Masters: _fuck yeah, dragons and rainbow-fire_
  14. Boiling Rock 1: “I’m never happy” + Suki appreciation + Zuko’s firebreathing smirk Sokka realizes he’s bi
  15. Mai deserves to be loved wholeheartedly, Suki is Badass Queen, Chit Sang implies Suki is both the boys’ girlfriend, Azula gets Betrayed™ (Zuko’s happy smile at the reunited family ;A;)
  16. “Aang how do I avenge my mom”  
“Forgiveness is-”  
“Zuko how do I-”  
“I packed yesterday let’s go”
  17. Ember Island Players = _cringe_
  18. Phoenix King: Aang is too pacifist to deal, June can’t find him, and Azula learns Father Does Not Love Her
  19. Old Masters: Aang doesn’t like his guidance, the Gaang finds Iroh’s Old People (mostly _men_ ) Camp, Zuko and Iroh are tearfully reunited, they strategize, Aang gets some Wisdom™
  20. Into the Inferno: Azula is unstable, the Air Fleet is being taken down, Old Men Attack FN Ba Sing Se, Aang starts fighting the Bitchlord, Zuko and Azula get into an Agni Kai
  21. Avatar Aang: Traumatic Flashbacks to unlock the Avatar State, Sokka Suki and Toph fight the Armada, Katara defeats Azula and Aang energy-bends away from his moral indecision.  
\+ Epilogue (don’t want to do the comics~)



* * *

**Leverage**

**Season 1**

  1. Victor Dubenich double crosses the thieves and one honest man he hired, they _steal Sophie_ from honest work to _steal the plans back_ and get payback
  2. Leverage Consulting & Associates reunites for “one more job”, overthrowing a government contractor by _stealing a law_
  3. Jim Sterling is introduced as the team tries to con a guy out of a racing horse
  4. a priest friend of Nate gets beat up, the team _steals a miracle_
  5. Leverage _robs a bank_ that’s being robbed & fuck over judge in the process
  6. Team saves orphans by _stealing a movie_ , the job hits close to home for Parker and Hardison
  7. Team _steals a wedding_ , Eliot can cook
  8. Hardison has to save the day by _stealing an aeroplane_
  9. Crooked contractor, painful episode
  10. 12-step job: Nate goes to rehab together with the mark
  11. Juror #6: Parker makes friends and saves the plaintiff’s day by _stealing the jury_
  12. First David Job: Ian Blackpoole, CEO of Nate’s former job, is conned into buying his own maquette, but job goes wrong because of Sterling and Maggie
  13. Second David Job: Blackpoole gets warned about the exhibition being robbed, the team recruit Maggie into the con, and manage to blackmail Blackpoole out of his position



**Season 2**

  1. 6months after S1, everybody went back to their previous solo occupation but are unhappy, they help Nate’s latest client: take down the Irish mob by _stealing the deal_
  2. Leverage scam crooked MMA promoter by _stealing the win_
  3. Order 23: convicted germophobe felon is conned into revealing location of his stolen money
  4. Fairy Godparents: team rips of investment banker by _stealing his stepson’s school_
  5. Sophie leads the con, makes it too believable for the tabloid newscaster mark
  6. Team infiltrates food company and _steals the evidence_ by posing as magicians
  7. Old “friend” of Sophie’s crew messes up the Team’s job, _they steal it back._ Attempted murder of Sophie leads to her leaving the team
  8. Hardison leads team, gets too invested in conning a diamond merchant ~~I didn't like this one~~
  9. Team is being chaperoned as they _con a lawyer_ out of his client’s estate
  10. Team _steals the runway_ , gets in trouble with chinese mob
  11. Loan shark tries collecting during the wake at McRory’s Pub, they _con the loan shark._ Nate starts drinking again
  12. Maggie is framed, Sterling “helps”.
  13. Team _cons poser-psychic_
  14. Three Strikes Job: corrupt mayor, but complicated?
  15. Maltese Falcon: continuation of ep14, Nate takes the fall for the team, SOPHIE’S BACK



**Season 3**

  1. Jailhouse: Nate’s in jail, finds a client, _takes down prison warden_ with team, we don’t know Sophie’s real name, the Italian recruits Nate to take down Damien Moreau
  2. _High school reunion gets stolen_ to take down Manticore
  3. Inside Job: Archie Leach, Parker’s mentor, was asked to _steal a blight_ from a Steranko-protected company
  4. Scheherazade: Hardison takes up the violin so the team can _rob a corrupt African government official’s vault_
  5. Double-Blind: team prevent a pharmaceutical business’ corrupt CEO from releasing fatal prescription reliever, and Parker has to confront her feelings for hardison
  6. Studio: Eliot can actually sing <3
  7. Gone-Fishing: Sophie Parker and Nate _steal a train_ , Eliot and Hardison take on a private army
  8. Boost: con a used car salesman, Parker teaches teenager how to boost cars and become good
  9. Three-Card Monte: Jimmy Ford is running a scheme involving 3 bank robberies, Russian and Irish Mobs
  10. Underground: Team _steals a mine_ from owner who beds with dirty politician/local attorney general
  11. Rashomon: flashbacks as everyone simultaneously _steals the same thing_
  12. King George: trafficker has ties to Moreau, uses refugee children to smuggle artifacts
  13. Morning After: former star hockey player gets conned out of his knowledge for Moreau’s financial dealings
  14. Team is hired by mall Santa, take down an old enemy in the process
  15. Big Bang: Eliot used to work for Moreau, Team prevents Moreau from selling a huge EMP bomb at an auction
  16. San Lorenzo: the Team _steals an election_ to overthrow current president who is supported by Moreau. Moreau is taken down. Nate and Sophie have...a night.



**Season 4**

  1. Long Way Down: Team brings _takes down corrupt financier_ while freezing on the mountain. Back in Boston, they discover that the office is bugged
  2. 10 Li’l Grifters: mark is killed during masquarade ball, Nate is prime suspect. They _steal the Murder Mystery_
  3. 15 minutes: Team _steals 15 minutes of Fame_ , to turn shadowy political consultant in
  4. Van Gogh: retelling of star-crossed love affair by the person who knows where the lost masterpiece is
  5. Hot Potato: Sophie leads improvised con, _Team retrieves the genetically engineered super-tater_
  6. Carnival: attempt to _steal a revolutionary computer chip_ , but the mark’s child is kidnapped
  7. Grave Danger: HARDISON IS IN TROUBLE _SAVE HIM_
  8. Boiler Room: mark is 3rd-generation con man, _they’ll just rob him_. Jack Latimer is revealed as their stalker
  9. Cross my heart: improvised job at an airport, _stealing back a heart_ for a young patient
  10. Queen’s Gambit: Sterling recruits Team to _steal a thing in Dubai_ during a chess-tournament
  11. Experimental: Hardison turns into his cool self, Eliot turns into homeless veteran, _team cons sinister psychology researchers_
  12. Office: Leverage x The Office
  13. Girls’ Night Out: Parker, Sophie and Tara _investigate a mysterious online friend_ ~~thief~~ of Peggy
  14. Boys’ Night Out: Nate, Hardison and Eliot _extricate Hurley_ from involvement with gangs/Mexican and Irish mobs
  15. Lonely Hearts: Team gets hired to retrieve a lost wife, discovers a big Black Widow con, _they steal the ~~B~~ ~~lack Widow~~ lost wife. _Latimer & partner declare war on Leverage
  16. Gold: Hardison leads a con, takes it too far? ~~I also didn't like this episode~~
  17. Radio: Jimmy Ford breaks into patent office for Latimer.
  18. Last Dam: Team must recruit allies (whom they don’t know, don’t trust, don’t work with) to _take down Latimer and Dubenich._ Nate wants **_revenge_**



**Season 5**

  1. (Very) Big Bird: all fake identities are gone, Team moves to Portland, Parker and Hardison are now together, they _take down corrupt airline executive_.
  2. Blue Line: Team helps an “enforcer” to stop fighting for the hockey team’s owner
  3. First Contact: entrepreneur steals his subordinates’ ideas, is _conned into thinking aliens are real & made contact_
  4. French Connection: Team _infiltrates a cooking school_ , owner involved in smuggling truffles, Parker finds hobby
  5. Gimme a K Street: Parker takes over cheerleading squad’s coaching while Team attempt to get safety legislation passed in congress
  6. D.B. Cooper: Agent McSweeten asks team to look into the D.B. Cooper case, which his dying father was obsessed with
  7. Real Fake Car: the mark is placed in WitSec
  8. Broken Wing: Parker is left home with a serious injury while the Team has job in Japan, recruits waitress into preventing crime
  9. Rundown: Parker, Hardison and Eliot must prevent a terrorist attack
  10. Frame Up: Sophie and Nate must help Sterling recover a mysterious painting by modern master
  11. Low Low Price: Eliot convinces team to help small town store from new mega-store
  12. White Rabbit: Team attempts a rare con to save town and his grandfather’s company
  13. Corkscrew: Team investigates suspicious death at a winery
  14. Toy: Team prevents unsafe children's toy from getting on the market
  15. Long Goodbye: _steal the Black Book_ , a record of all illegal transactions made by bankers and wealthy people that led to the financial crisis of 2007-08



One day I might go over all the lines I specifically want to take/remake from either show, but...not now.


End file.
